Chapter 78: Spring, spring, spring (2)

Jason Bean : Rose Island…… I also want to go there. How much would it cost?

ㄴ Sophia Chen : It’s different according to the branch, but for the one in Chicago, $300 per person would be enough. If you just want to go to a three star and not to Rose Island, there would be many places at half the price.

ㄴ Jason Bean : @Sophia Chen Compared to the value of its name, it’s not that expensive. I thought that it would cost at least a thousand dollars.

ㄴ Sophia Chen : @Jason Bean A restaurant that charges you a thousand dollars….. If you don’t order really expensive food, I think that it would be difficult finding that kind of place.

Tomos Surrey : There’s also quite some romance in the food truck. And Peter talking with Jo Minjoon was also cool. The feeling of fellow soldiers sharing their friendship before going to war? Well, even if that was the case, it wouldn’t disappear the fact that Peter badmouthed about Kaya’s past.

ㄴ Dante Miles : Honestly, I do understand you, but I can’t sympathize with you. Whatever situation he was in, he made me feel bad.

Sienna A. : Personally, I think that Anderson showed that he was really experienced in this food truck mission, and it was good to see that. And it also moved me that Chloe stepped up to cover for Kaya.

ㄴ Luke Joe : That part was good, indeed. The annoyance I got while looking at the jerks all disappeared when I saw how Chloe reacted. It seems like she is really good natured. I want to be her friend.

Kaya Lotus : I’m Kaya.

ㄴ Glori Castillo : Then, I’m Jo Minjoon.

ㄴ Kaya Lotus : @Glori Castillo So you are seated next to me right now?

ㄴ Gina Carr : @Glori Castillo Don’t react to these kind of guys one by one. Guys that act like this because they can’t get enough attention aren’t one or two.

ㄴ Kaya Lotus : @Gina Carr I’m still Kaya.

Roy Sherfan : I will marry Kaya.

ㄴ Wretic : I think that Jo already took her.

ㄴ Roy Sherfan : @Wretic I will take her back.

Pat Fiasco : Anyways, I never thought that I would see Rachel again on the screen. I thought that she would only remain as a memory from when I was a child, but looking at her again like this is nice. I also think that the rating would rise really high.

ㄴK.R.R : I think that it surpassed 1/3 . I got more surprised by the fact that she was interested in Jo Minjoon rather than her appearance. I heard that all of the chefs Rachel taught received at least one Michelin star. Minjoon’s future is bright.

ㄴ Pat Fiasco : @K.R.R It would be good if Minjoon and Kaya open a restaurant together. And then, they marry.

Tess Gilly : I have something to say. When I was in middle school……

“Almost everything is about Minjoon and Kaya.”

Chloe read all of the comments and put her handphone back in her pocket. Even if she didn’t try to be too bothered by it, it was unavoidable to feel a bit of regret. ‘I’m also doing my best.’ She mumbled like that inwardly, so there was no way someone else could have heard it.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t popular. Chloe too was a participant that had personality and abilities. However, the popularity of Kaya and Jo Minjoon was overwhelming. And after that, Anderson had more popularity than Chloe. But of course, there was no meaning in ranking them, but the results were somewhat frustrating.

It wasn’t even autumn, but spring, so why did they feel this low? Chloe pressed her cheeks with both of her hands, and pouted out her lips like a fish. Joanne and Ivanna that were looking at her next to her, exchanged glances for a moment and then, moved their steps. Joanne asked.

“Why are you in such low spirits?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

Chloe laughed. It was a weak laugh. Ivanna took out a chocolate wrapped in vinyl from her chest, and lent it to Chloe.

“Eat. It will give you strength.”

“……..Thanks.”

After she peeled off the vinyl and ate a bite of the chocolate bar, the cookie that was hidden inside of the chocolate crumbled softly. And there was also cream in it. Chloe said while admiring.

“Did you make this?”

“Not me, but Sasha made it for me.”

“I will also have to ask her to make some for me.”

To combine chocolate and cream this softly. Chloe put on a nice smile.

“I think that the things Sasha are making nowadays are becoming more delicious.”

“You too? I also thought that.”

Joanne said as if it was surprising. After Chloe ate all of the chocolate with a face like she was having fun, she also licked the chocolate on her fingers. It was at that moment that they could see Kaya and Jo Minjoon coming up the stairs and entering the kitchen. While Chloe just looked at them without saying anything, Joanne opened her mouth.

“It seems like Kaya is going to make breakfast again. Aren’t they going to date if they keep it? Now, I am also getting confu…… Ouch, what was that?”

Joanne stopped talking and looked at Ivanna resentfully. Ivanna brought the hand she pinched Joanne’s waist with to her mouth, and gave her a warning after saying ‘shh’. And then, slightly looked at Chloe. Joanne looked at Ivanna’s finger, Chloe’s back, and her looking at the kitchen and then put a strange face.

“…….Really?”

“Right. Chloe likes Minjoon.”

“What?!”

Chloe was putting on an absentminded face, and got surprised, and looked back at her. Joanne facepalmed. She even pinched her waist to act tactfully, but she ended up saying it in such a calm voice. Chloe waved her hands while blushing.

“Now you are also planning on getting me mixed up in that? No, it’s really not.”

“Okay then.”

Ivanna replied with her usual sleepy voice as if it didn’t matter what side it was on. Chloe stood up from her place in an exaggerated manner.

“Let’s go ask Sasha to make some more of this. It’s delicious. You aren’t going? We also have to slowly eat breakfast.”

“… … …”

The reply didn’t come back. She could only see Joanne’s eyes that were filled with suspicion.

Chloe put on a teary face.

–

Chicago’s Rose Island was getting bombarded with more reservation calls than usual, after the scene Jo Minjoon visited it. But of course, as it was a three star restaurant, there was no way you would be able to get a table without having reserved beforehand, but that wasn’t the case right now. There were so many calls that even if you called a thousand times, only one would get through.

For Dave, it was a situation he didn’t know if he had to be happy or not. It was good that there were many customers, but the result of that was that the regulars couldn’t even make a call and had difficulty in reserving a table……..

On top of that, there would be many people that would reserve at the moments excitement, and cancel when the day came. No, perhaps that would be better. If they didn’t even cancel the reservation and didn’t show up, they would only waste ingredient fees. And the restaurants that went bankrupt because of the canceled reservations weren’t one or two, so it wasn’t weird for Dave to have a face full of worry.

However, it didn’t take long for his face to change brightly. After he listened to the whisper of the youngest chef, Dave got out of the kitchen immediately and went towards the room. And then, he smiled brightly after he looked at the people that were seated in the room.

“Oh, god. Joseph, Alan, and Emily on top of that! For you to come.”

The three of them stood up and shook hands in order. He didn’t shake hands with Alan, but instead hugged him. There was a time when Alan and Dave were together in the same kitchen. Alan said in a calm voice.

“It’s the first time after it became a three star, right?”

“It seems so. Have you been well?”

“Well, I’m the same as always. But I do think that if I get one more star, I would be better.”

Dave smiled and took the orders. But there wasn’t even a need to call it as order. Animal or plant, it ended after you chose one of the two. All of the them chose the animal one.

Dave returned to the kitchen and the three judges just kept silent for a moment. Some meaningless words came between them and then Joseph, went straight to the main point.

“The level of the participants this time is rather high.”

It was a happy yet stifling voice. Actually, even his face was like that. He was putting a face of a student that didn’t know how to solve a problem. It was the same for Alan and Emily. Emily let out a sigh and said.

“Minjoon said this in the interview. That in the last buffet mission, there were six 8 points dishes. Although it’s funny to trust in his standards 100 percent, but honestly, I understand those numbers. The six dishes Jo Minjoon said didn’t fall back compared to the specialized chefs, certainly. If they decorated it a little better, even if they presented it in a restaurant, it would get good comments.”

“That’s why it’s all the more difficult as to what kind of mission do we have to make…….”

Originally, they would only have to use the missions they had planned to do. But now, they couldn’t do so. Because it was difficult to make the participants of this season to feel a sense of danger.

Actually, after the last mission ended, Martin let out a crying sound. He had to see one or two people that made mistakes or fell back compared to the others, but those cases were scarce. Because eliminating a participant that did well than another that did better was different to eliminating a participant that showed a decisive mistake.

Of course, if only the cream of the crop survive then the level will certainly rise, but if they wanted to make the viewers feel nervous, a scene which the participants were having it hard needed to appear. They needed to at least maintain that nervousness once. That was the theme for the next broadcast. Emily opened her mouth.

“What about making Asian food? I don’t think that all of them would be accustomed to it. We would get a fine scene where they are acting in a scurry way.”

“It’s not a bad idea. However, the audience would think that we would be giving Chloe, no, Minjoon an extremely advantageous mission. Looking at how much effect Minjoon’s popularity had……Even if it could happen once, if it happened twice, they would think that the director was doing it on pur……..”

Alan stopped talking. He gulped and looked at the servers bringing the food. The amuse bouche’s were placed on top of the torched wood plank. He put the gourgere in his mouth and felt the flavor of the cheese spreading in his mouth. That savory and sweet flavor eased his nervousness. Alan opened his mouth with a voice that was certainly more relaxed than before.

“Anyways, let’s reserve the idea of Asian cooking. We need a more certain item.”

They didn’t keep talking until they had finished eating the main dish. Honestly, they were concentrating on the dish in front of their eyes, so they couldn’t talk much. Dessert. Eating the sudachi curd with green apple jelly, Emily admired.

“Minjoon certainly reproduced the recipe exactly. There’s no difference in the flavor. It really feels like it was cooked by the same chef, in the same restaurant. That time, I was relying on my memories so I thought that it was identical because it was similar…….”

“………I certainly can’t feel a tiny difference. It’s to the point that expecting his absolute taste to be common sense to be difficult.”

Alan said with a sickened voice. Emily that was looking at him with a smile you couldn’t know the meaning of, opened her mouth and said with a gentle voice. Between her red lips, her red tongue showed.

“If he comes this way, he will really become an epicurean that won’t be repeated twice in history. How will he fare in the road of cooking? Of course, his ability to reproduce a recipe is certain, but because of that, he didn’t show cooking skills that are his own, right?”

“Only because he didn’t show it much, there’s no need to be afraid and give up before hand. Minjoon’s sense of taste will be favorable to have while cooking, it won’t prejudicate him. And I am also looking at him highly as a chef. He has talent. Surviving until now wasn’t solely by luck.”

Alan’s and Emily’s eyes became sharper. When the air between them was becoming sharper, Joseph said in a soft voice.

“However Minjoon wishes to become a chef. I think that the conversation ended with that.”

“……You don’t know. Perhaps, he will change his mind later on.”

Emily said with a depressed face. Joseph opened his mouth.

“Emily. Just like you can’t get out of the tasting world, Minjoon can’t get out of the cooking world. There is already a seat destined for all of the people. And if you can’t be in your seat, you suffer so much to the point you can’t stand it. And Minjoon’s seat, rather than this……”

Joseph raised a finger. It was a hand that was burnt by oil and fire, and had scars full of knife cuts. And the bad looking finger that by no means you could call pretty, pointed towards the kitchen.

“It’s that place. Even if you want him that much, you can’t change his seat. That’s something no one can do, and shouldn’t do.”

Emily didn’t reply anything back. She also knew quite well that wanting Jo Minjoon was just a greed of hers. A stifled sigh flowed out from between her lips. It was at that moment that Alan opened his mouth.

“……..The mission, I thought of one.”

Josephs and Emily’s sights directed to Alan. Alan’s corner of the mouth raised.

“What’s the reason we are clashing our opinions like this? It’s because a new type of guy we never saw before appeared. And the reason we gathered here is the same. Participants that are clearly more superior compared to the previous seasons. Ingredients that are hard to handle are making us feel pain. Then, we just have to return that back.”

Alan laughed as if he was enjoying it so much he couldn’t hold it back. Emily asked as if she was going to die from curiousness.

“What is it? What did you think of?”

“It’s ingredients.”

Alan continued speaking.

“Let’s give them ingredients they have never handled before.”

< Spring, spring, spring (2) > End

Translator’s note: Regular chapter!

Thanks for reading and for your support!

Translator : Subak

Proofreader : Saihikawa

Special Thanks to Vape_Lupe for corrections